Forget Me Not
by BlackestNight BrightestDay
Summary: "That is all. Really. Germany wrote a long-ass letter just to tell you I'm dying. I guess that's it. Bye." Two-shot. Rated for Gilbert's mouth.
1. Letter

"Hey aniki," Prussia paused and looked up from the weathered yellow pages laid before him. The young boy, whose brilliantly blue eyes shone with unease, stood stiffly in front of the heavy oak desk. "I have a question."

The albino chortled, and sat up. They were in the old library in one corner of Prussia' home. It was a magnificent library and Prussia was proud of it. Shelves upon shelves of weathered, leather bound books lined the walls, vintage lamps hung from the ceiling and numerous, dark-stained oak desks sat in neat lines. The library was rarely used – since Prussia was never the one for book .

But every once in a while he'd come to read about Old Fritz.

"What is it, West? You don't have to be so stiff you know, have a seat. You make me feel like an asshole or something."

Germany looked like he had something to say (probably along the lines of "You are"), but decided to keep his mouth shut. He pulled a chair back, with some difficulty, as he was still so small and the chair was still so big. He sat down. "I was wondering, what happened to the personification of a nation after the nation is no longer one?"

Prussia blinked, surprise shone in his crimson eyes. "Why the deep question, bruder?" He laughed with some unease in his tone, "It's not like you at all."

The blond hesitated a little, "I was cleaning…"

To which Prussia interrupted with a snort as he leaned back in his chair, "Typical."

The interruption was ignored though, "…Up in the attic this morning and I saw an awfully dusty painting. I cleaned it and saw this boy that looked lot like me."

_Holy Roman Empire, _Prussia thought somberly. The little great-nation-to-be had simply disappeared off the face of the planet; nobody was sure what happened to him. Prussia was pretty sure he was the only one who still remembered him though vaguely. They did used to play way, way, _way _back. "I saw his name written on a plague underneath the painting – Holy Roman Empire. He's the one who simply disappeared, right?"

Prussia raised a brow, "Have you been studying?"

A faint blush came onto Germany's face, "W-Well, I was only curious. I don't remember seeing a country like his on the globe."

The albino sighed, "To answer your question, I don't know what happens to a country after they disappear. Nobody knows." He frowned a little and looked up at the ceiling, contemplating how he would tell the younger boy. In the end, he shrugged. "They're just forgotten, I suppose."

"Oh." Germany's blue eyes clouded with sorrow. "That's very depressing."

Prussia, not liking the heavy atmosphere at all, laughed heartily. He jumped up, rounded the table and ruffled his hair affectionately. "Oh you! It won't happen. Back than, things were unstable. It's much better now." He hooked his arms under Germany's armpits and lifted him up and off the chair easily. "Now, come on. Let's go find Austria to bother." Gilbird tweeted exasperated and landed on Prussia's head.

"Oh, no. Don't drag me into this again, aniki."

"It'll be fun! I figured out how to get pass his fancy gates and stuff." Despite his cheerful grin, Prussia couldn't help but find that his mind still lingered on Germany's question.

What really happened to a personification of a country…after the country no longer existed?

He shook his off as he closed the doors to the library.

It wouldn't happen.

* * *

May 20th, 1947

It was a blizzard outside. Germany, now fully grown, was seated on the plush couch, facing the large windows. He looked up from his book; it was titled '_Before and After_'. Ever since he was young, the country had been curious to know the life cycle of the personification of a country. He knew that the Britannia Angel had _something _to do with the birth of one, and that there was a million theories as to what happened after the death of another, but nobody could say it for sure.

Heavy snowflakes fell to the ground as if it was rain; the sky was an ominous black and the wind howled. A sort of chill ran up his spine and Germany shook it off. Everything about this night was wrong. It was spring now, for God's sakes, there wasn't supposed to be a blizzard, but Germany knew it wasn't just the odd weather that was bothering him.

Nearly a week ago, his older brother had received an urgent letter in the mail. Prussia had sulked in his room for the bulk of the week. It was only just yesterday that he had stomped out, cursing up a storm. Without a word, he had kicked the door down (literally, mind you) and disappeared into the late morning's light.

He hadn't came back since.

As the ever-so-faithful younger sibling, Germany was worried.

Germany sighed and put down his book, it was just midnight – the grandfather clock upstairs was chiming. He had better go to bed, and hope that Italy wouldn't be there…again. He blushed and shook his head. Turning around, he was climbing up the stairs when the front doors swung open and a blast of cold air hit him. Too shocked to shiver, he whipped around and headed back down. Who was it? A burglar? Grabbing his coat on the way, he shrugged it on and dug into the depths of its pockets. There. His revolver.

"Who's there?" He called out tentatively as he rounded the corner to the main door. The lights were dim, so he couldn't quite see who was there. Germany, could however, make out a tall silhouette standing stiffly, by the door. Reaching up to the light switch with one hand, he pulled back the safety trigger with the other and pointed the gun at the suspicious person. He flipped on the lights and got ready to shoot.

And thank god he hadn't shot.

"Prussia! You bastard, I nearly shot you!" Germany fumed and lowered the gun to glower at his brother. "Where the hell did you go?"

Prussia scowled, "A meeting." He answered curtly, his fists clenched. He slammed the doors shut and stalked off.

Germany followed, his previous anger quickly dissipated."Oh, how'd it go?" He frowned; it was weird to see Prussia this…this serious about something.

The older nation walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge, he stooped down and grabbed a bottle of strong beer. He popped the lid off with his dagger, letting the metal lid and the dagger clatter onto the granite counter. Tipping his head back, he brought the bottle to his lips and chugged.

At about the halfway mark, he slammed the bottle down onto the counter, stretched out both arms onto the counter edge and leaned his weight on them. He hung his head, gritting his teeth. "How did it go? It went fucking great! It goddamn fun, West, wish you were fucking there! Oh, we had fucking cake and threw a party – what do you think!" He gripped the edge of the counter and sighed angrily.

"Preußen…" Germany started, "Please do not take out your anger on the kitchen again."

"No, damnit…" Prussia gritted out under his breath, "You don't get it! I'm not a fucking country anymore. They called me out to sign an fucking piece of paper, declaring the _official dissolving of the country of Prussia!_"

Germany blinked, he knew his brother wasn't kidding – he wouldn't be so colourful about it otherwise. He didn't know what to say, what _could _he say? His mind was reverting back to all the theories of the after, he shoved it away. Instead, Germany hung his head, pocketing his gun. "I'm sorry, bruder."

His aplogy was not heard by the now ex-country. Prussia snarled, "I can't believe this, I thought that kind of thing stopped centuries ago!" He curled his right hand into a fist and pounded the counter, "Damn it, damn it, damn it…" His voice slowly grew quieter and quieter, his head hung down, heavy with shame. "Damn it…" His usually proud and loud voice was deduced to a mere whimper.

It hurt Germany to see his older brother, the once proud and mighty Prussia, crumple into a whimpering heap right in front of his eyes. "Preußen…" He said, helplessly.

"Don't call me that anymore," the albino's angry hiss was loud in the dark and empty house. "From now on, I'm only known as Gilbert."

Gilbird, the yellow chick, peeped sadly.

* * *

June 16th, 2010

Hungary hummed cheerfully as she reached up and clipped up the damp bed sheets onto the drying line. She settled back down on the heels of her feet and tucked a loose strand of chestnut brown hair behind her ear. She picked up the empty basket and hurried back into the house.

The day was warm and the air smelled sweet with the blooming of flowers everywhere. Hungary returned the basket to the laundry room and went to the kitchen to follow up with the rest of her chores.

She was washing the dishes when she heard a pair of footsteps stop by the door. She stopped and looked over her shoulder, a small smile came onto her face. "Austria," Hungary greeted the taller man. A confused look soon replaced the smile as she put down the dishes and turned around to meet him fully. Hungary dried her hands on her white apron, Austria looked worried.

Well, to other people he could come off as stoic and neutral, but Hungary knew the man well enough to tell when he was worried. (Mariazell would be curled, just slightly. His violet eyes would be darker, just slightly. His brow would be troubled, just slightly.) "Is something the matter?" She asked, her gaze settled on a white envelope in his hands.

"I'm afraid," Austria started as Hungary walked up to him. "That I have bad news to bring. This came in the mail today, from Germany."

"Germany? Why, he hasn't written to us in a long time." Hungary commented, worry etched on her face.

"I know." Austria gave the female country the letter.

Hungary saw that the letter was already opened, but it was addressed to both Austria and her, so she wasn't too annoyed that he was reading her letters. She took out the paper and unfolded it.

_Dear Austria and Hungary,_

_I'm terribly sorry to bother you with the news I shall be presenting in this letter. I hope you are doing well. _

_As for my brother and I…Well, I'm doing fine but I'm afraid that Prussia – uh – Gilbert isn't. _

_I am quite sure that you both understand that Gilbert is no longer a country. He was signed off by the others nearly sixty years ago. _

_Initially, Gilbert was healthy - miserable, but healthy non-the-less. I have been studying about what happens _after_, according to numerous books, the personification of a country does not die right after their country is dissolved. Nothing really happens until the original inhabitants of the country all slowly die out. _

Hungary inhaled sharply and clutched the piece of paper tighter. She chewed on the inside of her cheek.

_You understand that a country's people are also their blood. Without their people, there is no blood. I assume you can guess that Prussia' original population has grown old, weak and are dying of numerous reasons. Unfortunately this has directly affected Gilbert's health._

There was than a sharp line leading off the right side of the page, followed by a familiar, messy handwriting.

_Damn it. I'm sorry for taking your vital regions, Austria (I have no regrets), and I'm sorry for bullying you, Hungary (I have no regrets too). I can't take anymore of Germany's endless beating around the bush. I'm just going to be blunt about it. _

_I'm dying._

_No, I don't like it. I'm a wreck. Don't ask why I sound so __fuckin__g cheerful .To be frank, I don't know why myself. Don't need to come visit me, I honestly do not need the sappiness that's sure to come. Though, I'm not going to lie, having more than just Germany by my side while I die would be nice._

_That is all. Really. Germany wrote a long-ass letter just to tell you I'm dying._

_I guess that's it. Bye._

_Prussia & Germany_

A heavy silence hung in the air between Austria and Hungary. "W-Well," She started, voice cracking ever so slightly. "I guess I better go. Will you come?"

Austria was silent for a while, "I'll stay...and contact his best friends...France and Spain, was it?"

Hungary nodded, "Come soon, I don't know how long...he'll be around for." She started for the door.

"Be careful!" Austria called, watching her sprint across the lawn. "Be careful..."


	2. A LifeTime's Worth of Waiting

**_Chapter 1 has been re-vised and re-written. If you haven't read it again, I suggest you do. Though, it's only the last bit. Enjoy! Also, this story will have an epilouge. _**

**_

* * *

_**

It was a while before Hungary reached Germany's doorstep. The entire journey had been a blur as the only thing she could concentrate on was Gilbert. Of course, everybody knew that the two had grown up together. She knew his secrets and he knew hers. They were, despite their constant squabbles, far beyond the reach of friendship. Prior to living with Austria, Hungary always found herself pondering their relationship. It wasn't rivalry, nor was it plain old friendship and it wasn't a sibling sort of relation. It wasn't until news about Gilbert not being a country did her thoughts began to linger on a possible love interest.

At that time though, the idea was immediately shot down, as she was with Austria.

A sense of dread gripped her chest and a mental image of a dead Gilbert flashed in her mind. Her chest throbbed slightly and she gasped for breath, having not noticed that she had stopped breathing altogether.

Hungary swallowed thickly and raised a feeble hand to pull down on the doorbell. A pleasant little bell rang thrice before the sturdy wood door opened revealing a man of considerable bulk.

"H-Hello, Germany." Hungary greeted, ignoring the slight stutter in her confident appearance. She had been taken by surprise. Germany, whose blond hair was usually so carefully gelled and whose brilliantly blue eyes usually so bright, now looked pale and tired. His eyes shone dully in the dim evening's light, his hair seemed to be gelled half-heartedly as strands were falling here and there.

"Good evening, Ms. Hungary." Even his voice had changed; Hungary noted with some surprise, it was no longer smooth but gravelly and rough. "Please do come in - give me your coat, ah, no problem - I suspect you're here to see Gilbert?"

Hungary watched him put her coat away, "Yes, yes I did. I just got his mail. It was...very interesting."

He smiled crookedly, "Yes, well, Gilbert refused to allow me to re-write it, even when I promised to keep it short." Germany's broad back was facing her and his large hand still held unto the closet doorknob. "You must understand that...it is hard to realize the truth."

There was a pause where neither Germany nor Hungary said anything. The beautifully carved cuckoo clock on the wall clicked away and a kettle whistled softly. The silence was interrupted by a fit of rough and violent coughing. Footsteps, slow and weak, sounded from the hallways above. "W-West?" A voice croaked. "Who is," A throaty cough interrupted the sentence, "it?"

Germany turned around and exchanged a dull glance with Hungary before hurrying up the stairs. "Aniki, I've already told you to stay in bed. Here we go, one two - hup."

"Put me down." Hungary stood at the bottom of the stairwell, her hand lingered on the handrail. He sounded so weak, so...un-Gilbert like.

"There is no point, Aniki. You can barely walk, why did you get out of bed?" Germany's voice grew fainter and Hungary suspected he had entered a room. She hurried up the stairs.

When she got to the room, she watched Germany gently lay down a frail body onto a big, plushy bed. The person coughed again before turning to face her.

The truth never hit her so hard. All this time she had been hoping with all her heart that Gilbert had been pulling a prank, that this whole situation was fake. No matter how much she tried, there was no running away from the fact that that frail person was none other than Gilbert. Only he had that head of forever-messy albino hair and _only he _had those piercing red eyes. A strangled gasp escaped her lips.

Gilbert turned away, his face remained emotionless. "Bad, huh." His hoarse whisper rang clear in the piercing silence.

Hungary nodded, even though she knew he could not see her. Germany's head was hung low and his eyes were glued to the floor. Tentatively, she walked deeper into the room. "I didn't...I thought..."She tried but found no words. Hungary stopped by his bedside and looked down at him.

His red eyes remained on the lamp hanging above his bed. "Go on. I might as well hear what you have to say if I'm on the verge of death." Speaking in long sentences seemed to pain him as his volume steadily lowered with each word.

There was a soft thud behind her and Hungary turned around to see Germany holding a chair out for her. He nodded towards it and moved it closer to her. She nodded her thanks and sat down. "I thought," She began, holding her hands together; "I thought...you wouldn't be as...bad." She took a shaky breath and closed her eyes. "Rather, I didn't dare believe you."

There was a pause when Gilbert decided to not respond to that. "You didn't need to come."

"No, but you sounded like you wanted me here. Do you want me here?"

There was a long silence where nobody said anything. "Do you want me here?" Hungary repeated once more. Her chest throbbed, was she intruding?

Yet another silence, Hungary drew a shaky breath, now feeling all her confidence seep away. He did hate her. It was all her fault, for ignoring him, for insulting, hurting and beating him. She did not deserve to be beside him. "Do you want me here?" She asked one more time.

When her question was left un-answered, she stood up abruptly. "Okay, fine. I just thought that maybe you wanted me here, I guess I deserve it." She laughed drily, "I cannot say that I treated you very well over the years." She paused, "I should be on my way." She added, her voice cracking horrendously.

"I told you," Came a croak, "I told you I didn't want the sap."

This made the female nation angry, angry that he was such a jerk. Angry that it was his entirely his fault for making her experience so many vivid emotions- love, hate, guilt and desperation. Angry that it was him who haunted her dreams, him whose bright, crimson eyes kept her awake at night and him whose charming smile, was what she woke up to nearly every morning. Than, of course, angry at herself because he had given so much, she had taken it all and never gave anything back. And yet, here he lay, half-dead and he was deliberately avoiding her question.

She stood up, "You're such a brat." She hissed, though she hadn't meant for it to come out. "Just when I thought that, hey, maybe you'd be a little different on your death bed - that maybe you'd be kinder and more considerate, but no, you turn out to be the exact same person." She inhaled sharply, swallowing a thick lump in her throat. "Of course, I was expecting such reactions from you. I don't pretend, now anyway, that I have treated you fairly in the past centuries. Oh no, I know that I've completely dejected you after I went with Austria. You probably still hate me for it. It's extremely selfish of me to ask for your forgiveness now." Hungary turned around and nodded blurry-eyed at Germany. "I'll see...you around." She had been walking out the door when she heard his call.

"Yes I want you here!" It was so loud in the silence, so clear and, for some reason, struck her as so normal. For a second the thought that maybe Gilbert had gotten better flashed in Hungary's mind. She wanted to just leave, to show him she didn't need him, but her body felt paralyzed. "Please, please don't leave me." The plea grew weaker with each word, until it was just a whisper. "Please."

Hungary turned around and her green eyes landed on the bed. Gilbert had not moved at all, but his red eyes were finally fixated on her and steady streams of tears flowed out of them. "Oh god," He muttered in German, closing his eyes. "I hate this. You shouldn't be seeing this -" He tried to gesture to himself, but could not lift his hand up high. "- this pathetic excuse of a living thing."

It hurt her to see such a proud person be reduced to such a pitiful state. She moved back to his bedside and his eyes remained closed. They stayed like that for a while and Germany, who had been standing there the whole time, said nothing.

Something inside of her cracked, something broke and everything came gushing out. Before she could really think, Hungary was speaking. "I'm sorry," she began, and Gilbert's eyes opened, in mild surprise. "I'm sorry for being so disgustingly selfish to you. I'm sorry for not believing you and I'm sorry for not trusting you. I'm sorry for treating you like dirt and I'm so sorry for everything. You've given me so much, though I don't think you realize this. You've pushed me so far, you expected so much from me. You were so good in so many things, I wanted to be better than you, and I had to. I had to strive to meet your expectations and you kept setting it higher and higher. It made me strong and it made me...me. I'm sorry I treated you as an asshole, and that I looked down on your ways. I'm sorry for hurting you, I did not mean it." The whole time, Gilbert's eyes never left her face. She knew that she was doing the very thing he did not want. She was being cheesy and sappy, but there was no helping it. Hungary wanted him to know everything, and if the truth was full of sap - than so be it.

"I spent all my life trying to figure out what, in exact words, our relationship. It wasn't just regular friendship, it wasn't a rivalry and it wasn't a sibling thing." Hungary stopped, un-sure if she wanted to go on. Germany's presence suddenly became very pressuring and - most of all - _noticeable. _

Germany seemed to realize this though, as he gave an awkward little cough. "I'll go check on that kettle." He said, quietly, and left the room.

Hungary sat down on the chair. She took a deep breath, "It really does take a person to lose something before they realize the true value of that thing. She looked up at him and saw that his eyes, though wet and un-naturally bright, were gazing at her with the same sort of...spark she remembered a long time ago.

"What are you trying to say?" He asked, weakly. It felt as if he already knew what she was going to say, but just wanted to hear it.

"I love you." She answered, simply and earnestly.

The corner of his lips lifted a little, "I'm glad to hear that." He murmured. "It only took a life-time's worth of waiting."

With a sudden feel of bravery, she leaned forward and gently, as if afraid to break him, pressed a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry." She murmured, taking in a lungful of the familiar smell.

"It's okay." Taking a wobbly breath, Gilbert continued, "Three months from now, expect something to arrive at your door, alright? Because, I'm afraid, I won't be around anymore."

Hungary nodded obediently, but said nothing. She felt that she had said enough that day.

"Also, say thank you to West for me." He went on, voice gradually growing feebler and quiet. "And to Spain and France - tell them I'll miss spending nights partying and days pranking with them. Tell Italy," He paused and struggled for breath, "To take good care of West, or I'll haunt him for all eternity." He paused, "And finally to you, Hungary, Eliza, I love you too. Always have."

She nodded, crying silently into his neck. She already knew what was coming.

"And as an added note," Gilbert rasped, eyes closed, breathing shallow. "I still have no regrets to Austria." He chuckled. "I'll...see you, Eliza."

"Goodbye, Gilbert." Hungary murmured, hearing one final breath. "Goodbye, Prussia."


End file.
